Startup Canada Podcast: African Bronze Honey founders on being a sustainable for-profit social enterprise

Startups often struggle to tell their story. Who are they? What is their purpose? How are they changing the way people interact with the world? Entrepreneurs Paul Whitney and Liz Connell don’t have this problem. They share their story of how they turned honey into empowerment every chance they get.

“We’re not just helping people or the planet,” said Whitney. “It’s a completely fulfilled circle of sustainability and it’s remarkable how simple it is. It’s still a purchase transaction and a sale but what it results in is so many things for so many people. It’s a great story that continues to evolve and we love telling it!”

Whitney is the managing director at African Bronze Honey, a for-profit social enterprise dedicated to marketing organic African honey and honey products from 6,000 artisanal beekeepers in the remote areas around the headwaters of the Zambezi River. Whitney has travelled extensively and created successful businesses in Canada, Africa, and the Caribbean.

Connell is the director at African Bronze Honey, and her professional background is in communications and design. Connell has worked in Canada, Africa and the Caribbean on projects for government and the public sector, the arts, education and heritage sectors, interpretive centres and museums, and the voluntary sector.

In this week’s #StartupPodcast, host Rivers Corbett talks with Whitney and Connell about starting up, social innovation, and empowering African beekeepers with honey.

The Startup Canada Podcast Show is a production of Startup Canada, a grassroots, entrepreneur-led movement to bring together, celebrate, and give a voice to Canada’s entrepreneurship community. On the podcast, award-winning entrepreneur host Rivers Corbett speaks with the movers and shakers of Canada’s entrepreneurship community to give a glimpse into the future of business, and share insights on everything from social innovation to the future of work, investing, and why we need to think bigger to take our businesses global. Join Rivers Corbett for new episodes every Tuesday airing at 10 AM ET for lessons, trends, and opportunities in entrepreneurship from Vancouver to Fredericton; and Israel to Peru.

You can find every episode of The Startup Canada Podcast Show at www.startupcan.ca/podcasts/.

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Startup Canada

Startup Canada is a grassroots network of entrepreneurs working together to build an environment for entrepreneurship in Canada.

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